By choosing to follow Reason over Ego, your team will always pivot from a Battleground of fault into a collaborative Classroom where solutions are found, and your Team Operating System (Element #4) is strengthened.
The Interdependent Meeting
In Right-Minded Teamwork (RMT), we believe that an operating system is only as strong as its teammates’ collective willingness to maintain it.
Here’s a good example of that important willingness.
I once worked with an Accounts Payable (AP) team of 15 people. When five major vendors weren’t consistently paid on time, it was a massive and embarrassing “Difficult Situation.” Only three teammates were directly responsible for that specific division, but the leader didn’t just call those three into his office. He called a problem-resolution meeting for all 15.
Why? Because in a Right-Minded Operating System, teammates operate under the principle that “None of us is as smart as all of us.” To fix a system error, they know they need the collective intelligence of the entire team.
The Choice: Accountability; Not Avoidance
As the 15 teammates gathered, the leader decided to prevent any egotistical attitude, such as “This isn’t my problem,” from making its way into the team discussion.
Before the meeting started, the leader placed the Right Choice Model on the wall and handed out Right Choice Cards. He didn’t lecture them; he authentically invited them to instruct their internal Decision-Maker to choose “their team’s” better way. The leader said:
“Even though only a few of you were directly involved in this difficult situation, we have agreed to work together [the leader pointed to the team’s Work Agreements that were posted on the wall as well].
We look out for and support one another. We can follow the upper loop of accept, forgive, and adjust. And that adjustment and recovery is what we need to discuss now. Is everyone ready?” That all said “yes.”
The Result: A Self-Correcting System
By using the Model, in the first five minutes of the meeting, the leader ensured that everyone was in their right frame of mind. This allowed the team to move into a two-hour problem-resolution session where everyone, even those not involved in the mistake, could contribute their ideas.
This is a powerful example of “Work as One.” They didn’t just fix a payment error; they improved their Operating System (RMT’s Element #4)
. They recognized that a flaw in one part of the system is a threat to the 100% Customer Satisfaction mission of the whole team.
Because the entire team was involved in creating the new Process Work Agreement, there was total buy-in. They didn’t just “bond”; they did their part to sustain their version of Right-Minded Teamwork.
The next day, when they presented their improvements to the operations leader and the vendors, they did so as a unified front. The result? Vendor payments were never late again.
The Choice is Yours
When your team’s “Operating System” hits a snag, remember that you are the Decision-Maker. Use the Right Choice Model to help you bring everyone together in Reason’s Classroom.
Remember: It is as sure that those teammates who find fault in how the team is operating will find cynicism, as it is certain that those teammates who choose to find solutions will find satisfaction.
Ready to apply Right Choice in your Team Operating System?
Get the step-by-step eBook Facilitation Package: How to Apply the Right Choice Model: Create a Right-Minded Team That Works as One.
As a retired facilitator, my function is now to support you. If you are curious about how to lead this dialogue, please reach out. I have seen this shift transform many teams, and it can work for yours, too.
May the Oneness be with you. 🙏
Dan Hogan, Certified Master Facilitator
